By Sam Landsberg, 13, Palms MS
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The community around Bloom Café is not somewhere you would expect a hip new restaurant to open. Until recently, the neighborhood was almost completely made up of auto body shops and upholsterers. There are still a lot of them here, but lately a change has come over what realtors call Picfair Village (the area where Pico and Fairfax meet). Trendy clothing and gift shops and restaurants have been opening up all along this stretch of Pico. Among them is Bloom Café, opened a few months ago by chef Arnaud (pronounced Ar-no) Palatan, the former owner of the French restaurant, Pastis. He opened Bloom with the simple idea that is said best in the café’s motto: "Bloom Café, Where Food is Fun Healthy and Delicious."

And "delicious" is definitely an adjective I would use to describe Bloom’s food.

Bloom started out selling sandwiches, salads, and soups.  A few months later, it added pizza. The pizza is inventive and incredible. My personal favorite and the rest of my family’s, too, is the rosemary, comte cheese, and potato pizza. They may sound like strange toppings, but the pizza is rich and the ingredients fresh. Others include homemade lamb sausage and sweet peppers, Norwegian smoked salmon, and three onion and goat cheese. For those not so adventurous, they also have a fabulous cheese pizza. Another option is to choose your own toppings.

Pizza isn’t the only thing on the menu. The sandwiches, much like the pizzas, vary in style and taste. I’ve had two of them: the burger (which people seem to forget is a sandwich) and the turkey sandwich. Both of these were superb. The turkey sandwich had avocado, tomato, and sprouts. The mushy, soft texture of the avocado perfectly complimented the crunchy sprouts. The sandwiches come with a side of the best French fries I’ve ever had. If you don’t order a sandwich I recommend getting a side of the fries.

Bloom also offers delicious salads. The "Gorgeous Green Salad" is a green salad that really is gorgeous with edible flowers on top. There are also salads with a burger, chicken, or steak on them.

On top of all this, the chefs at Bloom make breakfast too. They serve organic eggs made in a variety of different styles including poached, omelettes, and huevos rancheros, a Mexican egg dish. For those not in the mood for eggs there are also pancakes and waffles.

Bloom isn’t expensive or cheap. Lunch for two, including desert and coffee was around $30. The sandwiches range from $7.50 for a grilled cheese sandwich to $11.00 for Moroccan lamb pita. The pizzas range from $9 to $13 for a small and $13 to $18 for a large. And egg dishes are around $8.

So if you’re looking for a fun, healthy, place to eat look no further than Picfair Village, land of the auto body shops and upholsterers.

Bloom Café
5544 West Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90019
(323) 934-6900
Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.